tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33868782017-09-05T20:44:06.314-07:00Milk Plus: a discussion of filmA discussion of film.McBainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943111485572571868noreply@blogger.comBlogger825125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-19799436867479927712008-02-25T16:31:00.000-08:002008-02-25T16:36:38.470-08:00HousekeepingDue to the never ending spam that was clogging up our previous comments section, I've activated the Blogger comment functionality and retired the YACCS section. Unfortunately, that means that all of our previous comments are now inaccessible, but hopefully this will solve the problem. I'll probably start cleaning up the links next, as I'm sure that many of them are no longer Shroomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17781437574654985010noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-13109332058716816012008-02-24T22:42:00.001-08:002008-02-24T22:42:54.571-08:00I’m BackIt’s been a while since I took more than a passing glance at Milk Plus, much less write anything for it. A lot has changed in my life over the past two years, and as a result, I’ve had far less time to devote to watching movies (let’s say that my movie-fu has atrophied considerably). Nevertheless, the itch to watch and write about movies never really went away, and I think it is about Shroomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17781437574654985010noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1147906960437917692006-05-17T07:11:00.000-07:002006-05-17T16:02:40.576-07:00The PropositionI keep coming back to the flies. There are many stirring and memorable things about The Proposition, director John Hillcoat's brutal Australian Western, but the flies made the most potent impression. Maybe this is because they're everywhere; most if not all of the scenes in the film feature the omnipresent buzzing of hundreds of hungry flies. Whether indoors or outdoors, moving or Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1147303359370598822006-05-11T13:11:00.000-07:002006-05-17T08:08:08.906-07:00Dead Man's ShoesThe revenge drama is a strange genre. The most effective examples of the genre are those that use the genre's structure to question the violent impulses that exist within every human; however, the best-known entries stack the sympathy deck so blantantly that they do little more than justify their own bloodlust. (Think Unforgiven for the former, Death Wish for the latter.) Shane Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1146802142500039612006-05-08T15:18:00.000-07:002006-05-08T12:18:00.560-07:00Masters of Horror: Dreams in the Witch-HouseStuart Gordon's late-career resurrection continues apace with the disquieting Dreams in the Witch-House. Gordon made his bones as the go-to (maybe the only) guy for watchable adaptations of the work of H.P. Lovecraft, and he lives up to that identity with this, an episode of the uneven Showtime series Masters of Horror. This is not his best Lovecraft Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1146071682234985682006-04-26T10:13:00.000-07:002006-04-26T10:14:42.266-07:00Masters of Horror: Cigarette BurnsJohn Carpenter's freaky Cigarette Burns is foremost a story about allowing oneself to be consumed by obsession. There's a lot of obsessive behavior in this film, and at the root of it all is the obsession with film itself. Being that the reigning obsession that unites these characters is cinephilia, there's a self-reflexive quality to the film -- a movie about Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1146061624746310022006-04-26T07:26:00.000-07:002006-04-26T09:39:17.113-07:00CaviteNeill Dela Llana and Ian Gamazon's film Cavite opens and closes with the same shot, and that's part of the film's problem. The circular structuring makes sense from a plotting standpoint, as well as serving as a subtle reinforcement of the run-around the film's protagonist gets. Ending on that particular image, though, sends some strange mixed messages. I'd like to think that Cavite isn't Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1142221963556114392006-03-12T19:52:00.000-08:002006-03-12T19:53:26.546-08:00The Three Burials of Melquiades EstradaHowdy folks, I'm Tommy Lee Jones. You probably know me as an actor. (Remember me in The Fugitive? I was good in that. Won me an Oscar, it did.) Today, though, I speak to you not only as an actor but as a director and a human being. I'd like to talk to you for a moment about immigration.Now, I feel very strongly about the immigration issue. Immigrants have a Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1141949678758113542006-03-09T12:51:00.000-08:002006-03-12T16:07:27.746-08:00Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachtani?Eli, Eli, Lema Sabachtani? posits a future world in which a suicide plague can only be controlled through noise rock. Noise rock, as the name suggests, is an acquired taste. More than that, though -- it's a taste that's difficult to describe or defend to people who don't have the ear for it. To most people, artists who fall into the noise-rock category (i.e. Merzbow) areSteve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1128138125845739452005-09-30T20:38:00.000-07:002005-09-30T20:45:15.263-07:00For those interested, they can find my coverage of the 2005 New York Film Festival by clicking the above image. So far I have twelve reviews and press screenings are about 2/3 done, so more coverage should be coming in next week.Daniel Kasmannoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1121644840322154502005-07-17T10:56:00.000-07:002005-07-20T09:09:27.656-07:00The Upside of AestheticsThe Holy Girl and Princess RaccoonI enjoy a good story well told. Hell, I think everyone enjoys that. (Except Michael Bay.) And Lord knows there are many, many great films that involve just that. But every now and then, a movie will come along that demonstrates what can be done with a minimum of story. Rather than narrative propulsion, these films rely on visual dynamism Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1119152707642711092005-06-18T20:38:00.000-07:002005-06-26T16:04:08.406-07:00Der Batman, wie er in die Welt kamBy now, you've probably noticed that everybody loves Batman. "Batman Begins" was intended to jumpstart the superhero series run aground by Joel Schumacher (who will spend the rest of his career living that down, whether or not he deserves to). And boy, has it ever. Suddenly the whole world is up on Batman's leather codpiece again. The reviews has been ecstatic. Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1117279084700099812005-05-28T02:29:00.000-07:002005-05-28T04:18:04.753-07:00Cannes FavoritesA list and a few short notes about this year's Cannes edition, which had a better-than-usual competition, but rather lackluster sidebars (the few exceptions see below):0. Princess Racoon (Seijun Suzuki, Out of Competition). Truly Out of Competition - I refuse to rank this: Suzuki's last two films are messages from another universe. This one is as formally advanced, hyperstylized yun-fathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11402795279466885874noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1115361934763269952005-05-05T22:09:00.000-07:002005-05-05T23:53:54.520-07:00Serenity Many of you are familiar with Joss Whedon and the devoted following his work has. His television shows are only something I've recently gotten into through DVD's. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was really one of the best shows ever on television. It was blessed with a long seven season run, one where the characters were able to grow and change. When it was over, it felt like the time had McBainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12943111485572571868noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1115085319149149192005-05-02T17:52:00.000-07:002005-05-02T18:55:19.153-07:00Dispatches from the Doldrums of SpringMillions: It's certainly different, I'll grant it that. Whether or not that translates into a good thing probably depends on the viewer. Personally, I found the screenplay's fuzzy spirituality at odds with the worldview of director Danny Boyle. I give him credit for trying to stretch and make a cute family comedy with a little bite to it, but he wasn't able Steve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1115004408607716452005-05-01T20:16:00.000-07:002005-05-01T20:28:14.806-07:002005 Tribeca Film FestivalI unfortunately was not granted press access to the latest Tribeca FF so what with the end of the school semester and all I did not get to cover all that I could, and therefore drifted towards the works of accepted auteurs rather than taking very many risks. My reward for this old-fashioned approach was a totally disappointing selection. I apologize for simply linking Daniel Kasmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1114930079319862382005-04-30T23:46:00.000-07:002005-04-30T23:47:59.323-07:00The Big Red One: The Reconstructed VersionThis new version of Big Red One, with 40 minutes of footage added in according to the late director Sam Fuller's own specifications, is simply put an amazing movie. A deeply-felt, impeccably detailed and riveting portrait of war through the eyes of five survivors.Fuller was a member of the Army's First Infantry Division (the Big Red One of the title), so Lonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07614633082974536229noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1114181584764591232005-04-22T07:49:00.000-07:002005-04-22T07:53:04.770-07:00Save the Green PlanetSave the Green Planet—while not a great movie by a long shot—is the quintessential example of the reason more and more hungry film-fans are familiarizing themselves with imports from East Asia. Obviously one can’t judge a whole industry by the meager amount of product that finally gets distribution in the States (and even this film came out two years ago in South Korea), but Daniel Kasmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1113493941183023782005-04-14T08:51:00.000-07:002005-04-14T08:52:21.186-07:00Kung Fu HustleWith a enthusiastically carefree (or perhaps careless) attitude towards plot, protagonists, antagonists, or any real meaning, writer/director/producer/actor Stephen Chow offers up a riotous, animated homage to Chinese cinema in Kung Fu Hustle. Packed to the brim with eccentric, wild-mouthed caricatures who bend the laws of physics in the name of a new kind of special Daniel Kasmannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1113017976370677092005-04-08T20:38:00.000-07:002005-04-08T20:41:53.776-07:00Sin CityAs I left tonight’s screening of Sin City, Robert Rodriguez’s film adaptation of three Frank Miller graphic novels (with Miller infamously receiving co-director credit, a personal gesture on the part of Rodriguez which caused his break with the DGA; Quentin Tarantino also directed a scene in the film, Rodriguez wanting to seduce his celluloid-loving compadre with the new digital wizardryShroomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17781437574654985010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1113014022269019502005-04-08T17:28:00.000-07:002005-04-08T19:33:42.273-07:00And the winners are...Thanks to all (readers and members alike) for participating in the 2004 Droogie Awards. It was a pathetic and unceremonious process, compiling apathy, group-think, and overall disinterest. :)That said, congratulations to the dominant victor, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which took home 4 Droogies in a landslide. Gondry's masterpiece proved to be the most Private Jokerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08843529921698268639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1112668068036685432005-04-04T19:26:00.000-07:002005-04-04T19:33:01.530-07:002005 Wisconsin Film FestivalThe seventh installment of the Wisconsin Film Festival concluded yesterday, and for the third time in seven years, I was sick during the entire festival (damn those early Spring film festivals!), but I was a trooper and managed to see all 15 programs that I had tickets for. I’m still sick, and exhausted, so my comments concerning the films will be somewhat briefer thanShroomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17781437574654985010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1111360668731788832005-03-20T15:14:00.000-08:002005-04-06T01:25:54.613-07:002004 Droogies -- Official Final VotingThe time is now! ALL BLOG READERS are welcome to vote in this year's Awards. Spread the word, tell your friends. Here is the process: do note vote in the comments section. Email your vote to the category counter listed below. Only one vote per person per category, please. NEW DEADLINE (for you slackers): Monday, April 4. Noon Eastern Time. Please, Private Jokerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08843529921698268639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1110525581115581072005-03-10T23:11:00.000-08:002005-03-15T20:37:57.883-08:00The 2004 Droogies -- Stage IINominations are now closed. Thank to everyone who got in their ballots. We have some categories unaccounted for in regards to counting. So far, we have:Cinematograhy - LonsInternational Film - JokerSupporting Actor - AllynSupporting Actress - MerlotScreenplay - JasonActor - ??Actress - ??Director - JokerPicture - (Stennie?)Stennie has graciously volunteered (in thePrivate Jokerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08843529921698268639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3386878.post-1110313381351058692005-03-08T14:15:00.000-08:002005-03-08T12:23:01.360-08:00Cursed[As I am having difficulty sorting things out with this film, I have decided to replicate the experience of seeing it within my review. Enjoy.]So here it is: After casting, shooting, reshooting, recasting, cutting, recutting and a million missed release dates, the new-jack werewolf movie "Cursed" finally stumbles, ragged and bleeding, into public view. [LINE CUT] It sounded like a winner onSteve C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.com0